Beauty of the Beast

Although most Nightwish lyrics are written in English, there is the occasional song in their native language of Finnish (or even in one exception, several verses of one song in Native American Lakota!). Here you can find English translations to these songs and verses. Because the Lakota poem from "Creek Mary's Blood" was not printed in the U.S. version of Once, we have put it next to the English translation that was printed in the lyric booklet. Many thanks to our Finnish OSAers who assisted us with translations, and to John Two-Hawks' web crew for their help in with the Lakota translation of "Creek Mary's Blood".

To read the translations (and further details), simply click on the arrow, where indicated.

*Translated by The Enigma
**The title doesn't have a direct English translation; according to Wikipedia, "etiäinen" comes from Finnish folklore and is described as "a spirit sent forth by a shaman or by a person in great distress in order to receive information. The spirit appears as directed by the summoner in order to contact a person with whom the sender has a strong emotional bond. The spirit manifests itself by appearing and behaving as the summoned person in order to communicate the requested information".

I still dream every night
Of them wolves, them mustangs, those endless prairies
The restless winds over mountaintops
The unspoilt frontier of my kith 'n' kin
The hallowed land of the Great Spirit
I still believe
In every night, in every day
I am like the caribou
And you like the wolves that make me stronger
We never owed you anything
Our only debt is one life for our Mother
It was a good day to chant this song for Her
Our spirit was here long before you
Long before us
And long will it be after your pride brings you to your end

*Translated to Lakota by John Two-Hawks, from English-language poem written by Tuomas Holopainen. Lakota poem contributed to OSA by John Two-Hawks' official website.
**Both versions of the poem can originally be found in the European version of the Once lyric booklet.

"Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan"

Kerran vain haaveeni nähdä sain (Just once, I was allowed to see my dream)
En pienuutta alla tähtien tuntenut (I did not feel small under the stars)

Unta onko tää, (Is this a dream)Vai kuolema jossa palata sinne saan missä (or the death wherein I may return to where)hiillos jo luovuttaa lumen alla (embers are giving up under the snow)Kun astun maailmaan, erämaan aikaan (When I step into the world, into the time of wilderness)

*Translated by Pere; title translates in English to "Last of the Wilds".
**This song, better known by the instrumental version on Dark Passion Play, was originally written with the Finnish lyrics, not knowing if the new singer would be Finnish. Since the Swedish Anette was chosen, this version was sung instead by Indica vocalist Jonsu.

Käessä pitelin, Hilman kättä (We used to sit hand in hand)aettaan mentiin siitta viivyttelemättä (we used to run to the summer room)tekohampaat samaan lasiin yöksi laitettiin (and put our dentures in the same glass for the night)

Poissa lasista on Hilman hampaat (Hilma’s denture is missing from the glass)myöty kanat, siat lampaat (chicken, hogs and lambs all sold off)Konelypsyyn kantturat täytyi minun totuttaa (The cows must get used to the milking machine)Navettaan minä mänen nytkin (I’m going to the shed even now)rikki lypsykoneen kytkin (to fix the switch of the milker)Miksen Hilimaa koskaan sua takaisin minä saa (Why is it, Hilma, that I lost you for good?)

*Translated by Pere; title translates in English to "Hilma and Onni"
**Translator’s note: In the mouth of the common man, ‘necktied bull’ used to be a reference to an artificial reproduction specialist working with cattle; a profession associated with a measure of prestige in the rural Finland at the time.